TJX Companies
Encyclopedia
The TJX Companies, Incorporated , is the largest international apparel and home fashions off-price department store chain in the United States
. Based in Framingham, Massachusetts
, the company originally evolved from the Zayre
discount department store chain, founded in 1956, which opened its first branch of T.J. Maxx
in 1976 and its first BJ's Wholesale Club
in 1984. In 1988, Zayre sold their own nameplate to Ames, a rival discount department store chain, and the company renamed itself to The TJX Companies, Incorporated.
Since at least 2004, the company has been led by Chairman Bernard Cammarata, and the company's headquarters has been located at 770 Cochituate Road in Framingham, Massachusetts
.
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland
Germany
Poland
Former chains
came in 1994, when the fourth brand division, T.K. Maxx, was founded in the United Kingdom
, and then expanded into Ireland
.
In 1995, TJX doubled in size when it acquired Marshalls, its fifth brand. T.J. Maxx and Marshalls later became consolidated as two brands under a single division, The Marmaxx Group. The following year, TJX Companies Inc. was added to the Standard & Poor's S&P 500
Composite Index, which consists of 500 of the largest companies in the United States.
TJX launched a sixth brand, A.J. Wright, in 1998 in the eastern U.S. The brand went national in 2004 when it opened its first stores in California on the west coast. The company's seventh brand division, HomeSense, formed in 2001, was a Canadian brand modeled after the existing US brand, HomeGoods.
In 2002, TJX revenue reached almost $12 billion. In mid 2003, TJX acquired an eighth brand division, Bob's Stores, concentrated in New England
. In Canada, TJX began to configure some Winners and HomeSense stores side-by-side as superstores. The superstores feature open passageways between them, with dual branding. TJX's revenue in 2003 reached over $13 billion. TJX began to test the side-by-side superstore model in the United States in 2004, combining some of each of the two Marmaxx brand stores with HomeGoods. The company reached 141st position in the 2004 Fortune 500
rankings, with almost $15 billion in revenue. That year was also marked by the death of retired Zayre founder Stanley Feldberg.
In April 2008, TJX launched the HomeSense
brand in the UK, with six stores opening throughout May. The brand is more upmarket than its Canadian namesake. Later that year, in August, TJX sold Bob's Stores
to Versa Capital Management and Crystal Capital.
In December 2010, TJX announced that the A.J. Wright stores would be closed, cutting about 4,400 jobs, and that more than half of them would reopen under other company brands.
. It discovered in mid-December 2006 that its computer systems were compromised and customer data was stolen
. The hackers accessed a system that stores data on credit card
, debit card
, check
, and merchandise return transactions. The intrusion was kept confidential as requested by law enforcement. TJX said that it is working with General Dynamics
, IBM
and Deloitte to upgrade computer security.
By the end of March 2007, the number of affected customers had reached 45.7 million and has prompted credit bureau
s to seek legislation requiring retailers to be responsible for compromised customer information saved in their systems. In addition to credit card numbers, personal information such as social security number
s and driver's license
numbers from 451,000 customers were downloaded by the intruders. The breach was possible due to a non-secure wireless network
in one of the stores.
Eleven men have been charged in the theft, and one (Damon Patrick Toey) has pleaded guilty to numerous charges related to the breach. One man, Jonathan James, professed his innocence and later committed suicide, apparently out of the belief that he was going to be indicted.
The alleged ringleader Albert Gonzalez
was indicted in August 2009 with attacking Heartland Payment Systems
in which 130 million records were compromised.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Based in Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
, the company originally evolved from the Zayre
Zayre
Zayre was a chain of discount stores that operated in the Northeastern, Southern and Midwestern United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters was in Framingham, Massachusetts. In 1988, the Zayre department stores were sold to the parent company of the competing Ames chain, and Zayre's...
discount department store chain, founded in 1956, which opened its first branch of T.J. Maxx
T.J. Maxx
T.J. Maxx, sometimes referred to as TJ's or the Maxx, is an American department store chain owned by TJX Companies. With more than 900 stores T.J. Maxx is a major clothes retailer in the United States, whilst also operating stores in a number of other countries.-History:In 1976, T.J...
in 1976 and its first BJ's Wholesale Club
BJ's Wholesale Club
BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. , commonly referred to simply as BJ's, is a membership-only warehouse club chain operating on the United States East Coast, as well as in the state of Ohio...
in 1984. In 1988, Zayre sold their own nameplate to Ames, a rival discount department store chain, and the company renamed itself to The TJX Companies, Incorporated.
Since at least 2004, the company has been led by Chairman Bernard Cammarata, and the company's headquarters has been located at 770 Cochituate Road in Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
.
TJX Nameplates
United States
- T.J. MaxxT.J. MaxxT.J. Maxx, sometimes referred to as TJ's or the Maxx, is an American department store chain owned by TJX Companies. With more than 900 stores T.J. Maxx is a major clothes retailer in the United States, whilst also operating stores in a number of other countries.-History:In 1976, T.J...
- HomeGoodsHomeGoodsHomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores operated by TJX Companies and has 270 stores across the US as of February 2007.HomeGoods operates the home furnishings sections of T.J. Maxx 'n More and Marshalls Mega Store stores....
- MarshallsMarshallsMarshalls, Inc., is a chain of American department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 750 conventional stores, as well as larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico. Marshalls expanded into Canada in March 2011...
Canada
- Winners
- HomeSenseHomeSenseHomeSense is a chain of off price home furnishing stores operated by TJX Companies with stores in Canada and the United Kingdom.-HomeSense in Canada:At year-end 2010, HomeSense operated 82 stores in Canada...
- StyleSenseStyleSenseStyleSense is a new retail chain operated by Winners Merchants International, the Canadian division of TJX Companies.StyleSense offers footwear, accessories and fine jewellery, based on the same off-price concept as Winners and HomeSense.- References :**...
- MarshallsMarshallsMarshalls, Inc., is a chain of American department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 750 conventional stores, as well as larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico. Marshalls expanded into Canada in March 2011...
United Kingdom
- T.K. MaxxT.K. MaxxT.K. Maxx is a retailer with stores throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Poland. The company is part of the TJX Companies which also owns other 'off-price' retail chains such as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls in the United States and Winners in Canada...
- HomeSenseHomeSenseHomeSense is a chain of off price home furnishing stores operated by TJX Companies with stores in Canada and the United Kingdom.-HomeSense in Canada:At year-end 2010, HomeSense operated 82 stores in Canada...
Republic of Ireland
- T.K. MaxxT.K. MaxxT.K. Maxx is a retailer with stores throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Poland. The company is part of the TJX Companies which also owns other 'off-price' retail chains such as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls in the United States and Winners in Canada...
Germany
- T.K. MaxxT.K. MaxxT.K. Maxx is a retailer with stores throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Poland. The company is part of the TJX Companies which also owns other 'off-price' retail chains such as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls in the United States and Winners in Canada...
Poland
- T.K. MaxxT.K. MaxxT.K. Maxx is a retailer with stores throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Poland. The company is part of the TJX Companies which also owns other 'off-price' retail chains such as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls in the United States and Winners in Canada...
Former chains
- ZayreZayreZayre was a chain of discount stores that operated in the Northeastern, Southern and Midwestern United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters was in Framingham, Massachusetts. In 1988, the Zayre department stores were sold to the parent company of the competing Ames chain, and Zayre's...
(Acquired by Ames) - BJ's Wholesale ClubBJ's Wholesale ClubBJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. , commonly referred to simply as BJ's, is a membership-only warehouse club chain operating on the United States East Coast, as well as in the state of Ohio...
(Waban (BJ's & HomeClub) spun BJ's off to make it independent) - Home ClubHomeBaseHomeBase was a home improvement warehouse chain in the Western United States based in Irvine, California.-History:Robert J. McNulty and George Handgis founded the chain as a warehouse club called the HomeClub, opening the first two stores in Norwalk and Fountain Valley, California in 1983...
(Liquidation) - Bob's StoresBob's StoresBob's Stores is a chain of 35 American retail stores in the northeastern U.S. owned by Versa Capital Management. Founded as Bob's Surplus in Middletown, Connecticut, by Bob Lapidus in 1954, the chain expanded gradually until it was acquired by TJX in 2003...
(Sold to Versa Capital Management and Crystal Capital) - The MaxxThe Maxx (retail store)The Maxx was a retail store operated by TJX Corporation. It was operated by TJ Maxx, but they did not sell clothes or home furnishings.They operated 2 stores, one in Natick, Massachusetts and another in Braintree, Massachusetts. The former is now an indoor miniature golf course, the latter a Lane...
(One became an indoor miniature golf course, the latter a Lane Bryant) - AJWright (stores either liquidated or converted to other TJX banners)
History
Stanley Feldberg was one of the 1956 founders of Zayre Corp. He served as president of the company until 1978, and afterwards remained on the Board of Directors, until he retired in 1989. Once the company had sold off the "Zayre" name, the company consisted of its one core remaining store brand, T.J. Maxx. The next year, in 1990, TJX expanded into an additional store brand division, and at the same time it first went international, as it entered the Canadian market by acquiring the five-store Winners chain. Two years later, it launched its third brand, HomeGoods, in the United States. TJX's expansion beyond North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
came in 1994, when the fourth brand division, T.K. Maxx, was founded in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and then expanded into Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
In 1995, TJX doubled in size when it acquired Marshalls, its fifth brand. T.J. Maxx and Marshalls later became consolidated as two brands under a single division, The Marmaxx Group. The following year, TJX Companies Inc. was added to the Standard & Poor's S&P 500
S&P 500
The S&P 500 is a free-float capitalization-weighted index published since 1957 of the prices of 500 large-cap common stocks actively traded in the United States. The stocks included in the S&P 500 are those of large publicly held companies that trade on either of the two largest American stock...
Composite Index, which consists of 500 of the largest companies in the United States.
TJX launched a sixth brand, A.J. Wright, in 1998 in the eastern U.S. The brand went national in 2004 when it opened its first stores in California on the west coast. The company's seventh brand division, HomeSense, formed in 2001, was a Canadian brand modeled after the existing US brand, HomeGoods.
In 2002, TJX revenue reached almost $12 billion. In mid 2003, TJX acquired an eighth brand division, Bob's Stores, concentrated in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. In Canada, TJX began to configure some Winners and HomeSense stores side-by-side as superstores. The superstores feature open passageways between them, with dual branding. TJX's revenue in 2003 reached over $13 billion. TJX began to test the side-by-side superstore model in the United States in 2004, combining some of each of the two Marmaxx brand stores with HomeGoods. The company reached 141st position in the 2004 Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
rankings, with almost $15 billion in revenue. That year was also marked by the death of retired Zayre founder Stanley Feldberg.
In April 2008, TJX launched the HomeSense
HomeSense
HomeSense is a chain of off price home furnishing stores operated by TJX Companies with stores in Canada and the United Kingdom.-HomeSense in Canada:At year-end 2010, HomeSense operated 82 stores in Canada...
brand in the UK, with six stores opening throughout May. The brand is more upmarket than its Canadian namesake. Later that year, in August, TJX sold Bob's Stores
Bob's Stores
Bob's Stores is a chain of 35 American retail stores in the northeastern U.S. owned by Versa Capital Management. Founded as Bob's Surplus in Middletown, Connecticut, by Bob Lapidus in 1954, the chain expanded gradually until it was acquired by TJX in 2003...
to Versa Capital Management and Crystal Capital.
In December 2010, TJX announced that the A.J. Wright stores would be closed, cutting about 4,400 jobs, and that more than half of them would reopen under other company brands.
Computer systems intrusion
On January 17, 2007, TJX announced that it was the victim of an unauthorized computer systems intrusionHacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
. It discovered in mid-December 2006 that its computer systems were compromised and customer data was stolen
Identity theft
Identity theft is a form of stealing another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name...
. The hackers accessed a system that stores data on credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
, debit card
Debit card
A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...
, check
Cheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
, and merchandise return transactions. The intrusion was kept confidential as requested by law enforcement. TJX said that it is working with General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and Deloitte to upgrade computer security.
By the end of March 2007, the number of affected customers had reached 45.7 million and has prompted credit bureau
Credit bureau
A credit bureau , or credit reference agency is a company that collects information from various sources and provides consumer credit information on individual consumers for a variety of uses. It is an organization providing information on individuals' borrowing and bill paying habits...
s to seek legislation requiring retailers to be responsible for compromised customer information saved in their systems. In addition to credit card numbers, personal information such as social security number
Social Security number
In the United States, a Social Security number is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents under section 205 of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration, an independent...
s and driver's license
Driver's license
A driver's license/licence , or driving licence is an official document which states that a person may operate a motorized vehicle, such as a motorcycle, car, truck or a bus, on a public roadway. Most U.S...
numbers from 451,000 customers were downloaded by the intruders. The breach was possible due to a non-secure wireless network
Wireless network
Wireless network refers to any type of computer network that is not connected by cables of any kind. It is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and enterprise installations avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment...
in one of the stores.
Eleven men have been charged in the theft, and one (Damon Patrick Toey) has pleaded guilty to numerous charges related to the breach. One man, Jonathan James, professed his innocence and later committed suicide, apparently out of the belief that he was going to be indicted.
The alleged ringleader Albert Gonzalez
Albert Gonzalez
Albert Gonzalez is a computer hacker and computer criminal who is accused of masterminding the combined credit card theft and subsequent reselling of more than 170 million card and ATM numbers from 2005 through 2007—the biggest such fraud in history.Gonzalez and his accomplices used SQL injection...
was indicted in August 2009 with attacking Heartland Payment Systems
Heartland Payment Systems
Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. provides debit, prepaid, and credit card processing, online payments, check processing, payroll services and a growing line of industry solutions for small to mid-sized merchants. Heartland Payment Systems is currently the fifth largest credit card processor in the...
in which 130 million records were compromised.